What Does Mock Heroic Mean?

Mock heroic refers to a satirical imitation, a spoof or a parody of a heroic subject or a gallant style. It makes use of a trivial matter in a heroic subject and exaggerates it with satire and slap-stick humour. The mock-heroic style was quite popular in the Augustan and the Post restoration periods in Great Britain. After the translation of Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes, the spoof on romantic poetry and narrative was done to portray misguided characters.

Poet Laureate John Dryden is noted for his contribution in the mock-heroic world, especially for his satirical take on in the later part of the Restoration era. After Dryden, the tradition of mock-heroic poems began to gain ground as numerous small parodies began to surface from the period 1680 – 1780. Alexander Pope also used mock-heroic poems with considerable success. "The Dunciad" and "The Rape of the Lock" made use of poetry to describe trivial or contemptible subjects.